SAVAGES

NO MERCY. Gadhafi, seen here, bloodied after his capture and death.
Photo courtesy of Agence France-Presse.

Before news of his death came out, I already expected Muammar Gadhafi to die.

But not in the way I saw it happened.

All along, I thought he was going to be captured alive. Then sent to prison and treated with accordance to law. I thought he will be put to trial for his crimes to humanity. Chances are, he's going to be hanged or shot for his crimes. My thoughts were somehow reminiscent of Saddam Hussein's death back in 2003. But soon, it dawned on me why that idea was did not happen -- Iraq was occupied by the Americans at that time, majority of Iraqis are Sunnis just like Saddam who looked up at him throughout his regime.

Libya is different. What we have there are a group of oppressed and defiant revolutionaries who will risk everything and will resort to anything just to get their freedom back. Unlike the Americans, they won't think twice about killing the famed despot on the spot upon arrest. And that is what exactly happened.

I am appalled by the savagery of the rebels who captured Gadhafi -- how they took him out of that sewer pipe and dragged him by the hair to a waiting truck, how they displayed his still alive body to the multitude of bystanders with their cellphone cameras, how they shouted in celebration and brandished their weapons insensitive to the needs of the dying man. It makes me cringe and think twice about the type of people replacing  the long-time and long-hated tyrant. Sooner or later, the same savage people will find their selves fighting for influence, power and resources. Given the still murky future which awaits Libya, it is still likely that it will revert to being an isolated state once these savage rebels take the reins of government. From here starts a never ending cycle of savagery unless someone more civilized takes over.

But even the more civilized can become savage too, and we've already seen it earlier this year. You see, Gadhafi is not the only madman killed this year -- Osama bin Laden was also killed back in May. And while you might think that the Americans will breathe a calm, sigh of relief, the celebrations that followed were no different to what the rebels in Libya are now doing. Nor are they different from hooligans whose football team just won a championship.

Which leads me to question: Why do we celebrate the death of a person, let alone an evil one?

Despite the cruelty of Gadhafi to his own kind, the Libyan rebels still owe a lot to his existence. Without Gadhafi's 42 years of dictatorship, they won't realize and aspire for what true freedom really means. I believe that only when a people is chained and enslaved that they will truly know what liberty is. Thus, the savagery that these rebels have shown is not what Gadhafi deserves. This acts only justifies his own tyrannical deeds and tramples on the very essence of freedom. If a person values freedom, that person must value life, for no one can live without freedom and no one can be free without life.

I am one with the Libyan people in their achievement of the liberation they have sought for so long. But I will never be one with savages, whether tyrants or freedom fighters. TSS

ODYSSEY DAWN: NATO forces begin attacks on Libya

UPDATED (March 20, 2011 -- 8:00 AM Manila Time) -- In a move done almost in the nick of time, NATO Coalition Forces finally attacked Libyan air defenses of Saturday to enforce a No-Fly Zone resolution established by the United Nations Security Council on Friday. NATO members France, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada and the United States gathered its forces in an operation dubbed as Odyssey Dawn and launched aircraft and missile attacks against Libyan air defenses in the cities of Tripoli and Misrata. At least 20 aircraft from UK and France are involved in the operation, while the US provided ship support through the use of 2 destroyers, 2 amphibious assault ships, a command-and-control ship and a submarine. Canada provided surveillance for the operation while Italy allowed its air bases in Sicily to be the forward base of the operation.

The strikes are meant to clear the area for ground troops from NATO and Arab League members to enter the country and create a buffer zone between forces of the Libyan opposition and Col. Muammar Gadhafi's military. On Thursday, Gadhafi forces came at around 160 miles from the rebel stronghold city of Benghazi after a week of offensives which greatly crushed the rebel's numbers and morale. France, fearing that civilians in Benghazi will be the target of Gadhafi's wrath, urged the UN Security Council to finally vote on a much anticipated No-Fly Zone resolution over Libya. 10 UNSC members voted in favor of the resolution while Russia, China, India, Brazil and Germany chose to abstain. The UNSC resolution orders all its members to provide "all necessary means" to protect the citizens of Libya against Col. Gadhafi's forces.

THE TWO FACES OF THE LIBYAN CIVIL WAR. On the left, Libyan opposition supporters celebrate in Benghazi on Friday after the declaration of a No-Fly Zone. On the right, Gadhafi loyalists in a rally in Tripoli on Thursday. (AP)

Libyans in Benghazi celebrated on Friday night with fireworks and street parties upon hearing news of the UN resolution. Col. Gadhafi meanwhile remains defiant in the face of imminent backlash from Western coalition forces, stating that in a radio message that "Libyans will fight back against undeserved naked agression", and called on "all people of the Islamic nations and Africa, and Latin America and Asia, stand with the Libyan people in its fight against this aggression". Gadhafi has declared a ceasefire Friday night in response to the UN resolution by eyewitnesses on the ground say that his forces continued to advance on Saturday, pommeling Benghazi with mortar fire.

ARMED AND READY. French Rafale fighter jets prep up in Sicily, Italy for Operation Odyssey Dawn (left) while an opposition jet fighter is shot down and crashes in Benghazi (right)/Courtesy: AP

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented on Gadhafi's defiance in the face of world condemnation. "The Gadhafi regime has lost all of its legitimacy," she stated from Paris after a meeting between leaders of the coalition forces. The United States is cautious about its participation in Odyssey Dawn as it tries to distance itself from getting deeply involved in another Muslim country just like it did in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hence, it allowed for more participation from UK, France and other NATO members and has included at least two Arab League members to participate to give the operation a distinct Arabic signature. Odyssey Dawn came almost late as Libyans were anticipating a Western intervention earlier in its civil war against Gadhafi forces.

Sources: The Associated Press and CNN.